got to be love or death
by seren23
Summary: Thirty miles out from the strip club, Kate kind of loses it. Kate, Seth, and what happens next.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I think this will have about three, possibly four chapters. The title is from White Lies' song 'Death'. I own nothing!

* * *

Thirty miles out from the strip club, Kate kind of loses it.

"I don't think I was fast enough," she says, her hands pressed hard against her stomach. "Oh, God. I don't think I was fast enough."

"What?" Seth asks, glancing over at her and she doubles over, her head touching her knees. "Whoa. What?"

"My dad," she gasps, the denim of her jeans is rough against her forehead. "Before I killed him, his eyes changed. They went yellow and oh God. What if I didn't do it in time?"

"Hold on," he says as he pulls the car over. He throws it into park and turns off the engine, then turns to look at her, his hand braced on the back of her seat. "What?"

"Scott's a vampire," she says, her voice unsteady. "Scott bit Dad. Dad asked me to kill him. So I did. But…his eyes. His eyes changed before I stabbed him. What if I was supposed to kill him before they changed?"

She raises her head and looks at him. Seth stares back at her and she can see the puncture wounds on his neck, small and circular and clotted up with Seth's blood.

"I don't think I was fast enough," she says staring at his wounds.

"Yeah," he says flatly. "I wasn't fast enough either."

* * *

They drive all day and somehow they wind up at the coast. The sun's just starting to set when Seth pulls into a motel on the edge of a town. He pays for a room towards the back (with one double bed, apparently all they had) but Kate heads straight for the view overlooking the ocean.

She can feel him watching her as she walks towards the setting sun, but he doesn't follow her and she doesn't look back at him.

She stands staring at the Pacific and breathes in the ocean air. She's used to the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico and this is nothing like that. Bigger waves, bluer water, harsher winds. The breeze whips her hair across her face and shoulders. Tiny pinpricks of sand brush her arms and her cheeks and she closes her eyes and wishes the sand could scrub away this layer of her skin. Erase the blood and the dirt and just wipe away everything.

Absently she wonders if the culebras molt like regular snakes? Is there a Scott-shaped snake skin somewhere back in that temple? Will it crumble apart like that rattlesnake skin she found once?

Kate licks her lips and tastes salt.

When the sun has set and her skin feels tacky from the sand and sea air, she goes to the room.

Seth's left the door unlocked and he's sitting on the floor, a bottle of something obviously alcoholic in his hand. He doesn't look at her when she closes the door and locks it behind her.

His legs are stretched out in front of him and he has his shoes off. She's actually startled to see his bare feet and averts her eyes.

She heads towards the bathroom, stepping over his legs as she goes past. His hand reaches out and grabs her calf. She looks down at him. He raises his head and his eyes are red-rimmed.

"I'm sorry about Scott," he says. "And I'm sorry about Jacob."

"I'm sorry about Richie," she offers because she thinks he may actually mean what he's saying and because she is actually sorry about Richie.

Not that it really matters at this point.

He squeezes her calf and then lets her go. She goes into the bathroom, gets into the shower and cries.

* * *

They sleep.

They sleep for twelve hours, straight through the night and while Kate's not sure about Seth, she doesn't dream.

She wakes to see a sunbeam reflecting off the television screen while Seth snores heavily behind her. They're back to back, Seth facing the door.

Her stomach growls and she knows she needs to eat something, but she just closes her eyes and falls back to sleep.

This time, she dreams

* * *

They stay at the motel for a week. Kate swims in the pool every day in her underwear until Seth comes into the room and throws a bag at her.

"You're scandalizing the little old tourist ladies," he says.

She opens the bag and sees a new pair of jeans, some shirts and a purple bathing suit.

"Do I want to know how you got this?" she asks.

"With money, princess," he says heading into the bathroom. "It's running out fast. You got any marketable skills?"

"Does baby-sitting count?" she asks thinking of the only job that she ever got paid for.

He snorts. "Not really."

"Then no," she says.

He nods and goes to take a shower.

She changes into the bathing suit quickly while he's in the bathroom and doesn't think too hard on how it's a perfect fit.

* * *

She wakes up and freezes. She can't move. Wait. Not can't. Won't. She won't move because if she moves then they're going to find her. They're going to find her and tie her down and the ropes will cut into her skin and -

Seth snores and twitches behind her.

Kate breathes out.

It's the beginning of their second week at the motel and she can't do this anymore. She needs to move, to do something. Anything.

She needs to find her brother.

* * *

Seth takes it pretty much precisely how she thought he would.

* * *

"I have to find my brother," she says over dinner, her fingers greasy from the hamburger he'd brought back.

He pauses mid-chew and looks at her. She stares back.

"I figured," he says, his mouth full. "You can have the car."

"Seth, I don't-"

"You. Can have. The car," he says firmly.

"Thank you," she says softly. She wants to ask him to come with her, but he's very determinedly not looking at her.

He leaves the room after he finishes eating.

Kate waits up for him, but he doesn't show until morning when she's standing beside the car.

"You haven't left yet?" he asks.

"Wanted to say good-bye," she says.

He nods, then looks away. "Drive safe. Wear your seatbelt."

Kate stares at him in disbelief and then just chuckles. "Yeah. See you around, Seth."

"See you," he says quickly and then he walks away.

She gets into the car, adjusting the seat so she can actually touch the pedals. She's putting the key into the ignition when she hears footsteps. She looks over.

Seth walks up to the passenger side, leans down and asks, "You want some company?"

"That'd be nice," she says trying not to smile too broadly.

He smiles back. Then he frowns. "Fuck. Fuck this, Kate. Jesus, mother-fucking, fuck!"

He whirls away from the car and continues to curse loudly. A woman with her little boy round the corner of the motel, they spot Seth and the woman quickly herds the little boy away.

Kate leans back and just watches him. She's reminded of some of the tantrums Scott threw when he was little. Only they were slightly less profane.

When he's done, he stalks over to the car and jerks the door open violently and throws himself into the seat. He faces her, his hand cupping the back of her neck, and he pulls her close and presses his forehead to hers.

"I'm not your father," he says, "and I'm not your brother, princess."

"I'm not your brother, either," she says. "But I have to do this, Seth."

He takes a deep breath. "This is fucked up, Kate."

"Tell me about it," she breathes. "But we're gonna do it anyway."

His forehead is warm and sweat builds up where their skin touches. She raises her hand and cups his jaw, his stubble scratches her palm and something tightens and twists in her stomach.

"So, are you coming or not?" she says, her thumb catches on his rough skin as she rubs it along his jawline.

"What the hell else am I going to do?" he asks, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smirk and she can feel the motion under her hand.

He leans back in his seat away from her and she curls her hands around the hot steering wheel.

She puts her seatbelt on before they leave the motel parking lot.

He puts on his a mile later down the road.


	2. Chapter 2

Halfway back to the strip club, they get a flat tire.

Kate stands beside Seth as he works the jack. It's just past mid-day and the sun is still high in the sky. He's taken his long-sleeved shirt off and is just left in a pair of jeans and a grey undershirt. Kate watches the muscles in his arms as they shift under his skin.

She hears a throat clear and she raises her eyes to see him looking right at her.

"Not just a piece of meat, princess," he says smirking.

"Jerk," she says rolling her eyes. "I was looking at your tattoo."

"Yeah?" he says, flexing that arm as he strains to get the first lug nut off. It releases and he spins the wrench.

"Yeah," she says, grinning a little. "It's cool."

It's his turn to roll his eyes. "Cool, huh? Kinda hating the sight of it these days."

"Why?" she asks frowning as she takes the lug nut he hands her.

"Got it when I was sure of a few things," he says working on the next lug nut, sweat sliding down the side of his face. "Got when I was sure that Richie saved my life after our old man fell asleep with a cigarette in his hand. Got it to commemorate my brother's daring rescue of me and our amazing escape from death."

He jerks the wrench so hard the car shakes. "Didn't know he set the fire himself. Didn't know he fucking killed our father himself. Who does that? Who fucking-"

Kate's entire body jolts and she looks away from him abruptly and stares out over the desert. Seth stops talking and hangs his head.

"It's different," he says to the ground. "What you did. You didn't have a choice, Kate. You did it because you had to."

Kate has to swallow a few times before she feels she can talk without her voice breaking. "Maybe Richie felt like he had no choice, either. Maybe_ he_ did it because he thought he had to."

"No," he says shaking his head and going back to the wrench. "I'm not ready to be reasonable about it. I'm going to be pissed off for a little bit longer, thanks."

"Seriously?" she says looking down at him. "You'd rather be angry than try to understand him?"

"Yes, I would," he says and he looks up at her. "And don't tell me you're any different, Kate. You could have gone after Scott instead of coming with me. But you didn't. It took you a good few weeks to come around. I'm older and more of a stubborn bastard, so it's gonna take me a bit longer."

"Fine," Kate says with a sigh and she holds out her hand to hold the lug nut he's just taken off.

She helps him maneuver the flat tire off and the new tire on. She does her best to ignore the heat that just radiates off his skin when they're kneeling on the ground, working to get the tire on the wheel, and she's pressed up against him.

"Your turn, princess," he says handing her the lug wrench. She gets the lug nuts on and does her best to tighten them. Seth steps in to give them some extra tightening.

Kate grabs the bottles of water she'd bought at a gas station a few miles back and hands Seth one. She closes her eyes as she gulps the lukewarm water down.

"You sure we should go back there?" he asks.

"It's where I last saw him," she says frowning. "It's a place to start. Why?"

Seth furrows his brow. "Just thinking that without their Queen Bitch, no one's going to be there. Hell, the ones I saw got fried up in one big barbeque."

"What do you suggest then?" she asks.

"Who got him in the first place? Scott, I mean. Who bit him?" he asks.

Kate frowns. "Carlos. You think we should find Carlos?"

"Nah," Seth shakes his head. "Carlito is probably not a happy little soldier these days. We find the guy Carlos is working for now. We find my buddy, Narciso."

* * *

"How are we going to find him?" Kate asks as they eat arepas from a food stand next to the garage where their tire is getting fixed. The arepas have the faintest aroma of gasoline to them and Kate wrinkles her nose.

"Well, he's not the kind of guy that would appreciate us just turning up on his doorstep," he says eating his arepa in two big bites and going for another one. "Guess we'll ask around. He's the frickin' consigliere for a god, he can't be too hard to find."

"So, what, we just wander across Mexico, going into bars and asking for him?" Kate says handing her unfinished arepa over to Seth.

He shrugs and nearly swallows the food in one bite.

"I…may have a better idea," Kate says hesitantly.

"Oh, you do?" he asks.

"You're not going to like it, though."

He stares at her and his eyes narrow. "You're right, I don't like it. No way, Kate. No fuck- no! You hear me? No."

* * *

"Yeah?" a gruff voice says over the phone.

"Ranger Gonzalez?"

There's a pause. Then, "Kate?"

"Hi."

"Kate. Are you okay?" he asks, his voice softening.

"Well, you know. Mostly," she says. "I was wondering if you could look someone up for me. I'm trying to find my brother."

"Alone?"

Kate eyes Seth who's pacing in front of the car and sending glares her way. "Not exactly."

A steady stream of Spanish profanities erupt on the line.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that's what Seth said, only in English," Kate says chuckling despite herself.

"Kate, the man is a criminal," Ranger Gonzalez says. "He's killed people."

"So have I," Kate says quietly.

"Jesus," he says under his breath. "Look, don't trust him, okay? Use him if you have to, but don't trust him."

"Right," she says staring at Seth who is now just leaning against the car now, staring at her. "I need you to find Narciso."

"Who the hell is Narciso?" he asks.

"The man, or whatever he is, that Carlos is answering to these days," Kate says. "He has the bonds Richie and Seth stole. I think Scott will be with him."

"And if he's not with him?" he asks.

"Then I look somewhere else," Kate says.

"Right," he echoes. "Give me a day or two, I'm on suspension and I'm running out of favors to ask. Call me back in forty-eight hours."

"Forty-eight hours," she repeats. "Got it. How's your daughter?"

He pauses and then says with so much love that Kate thinks she can actually see it drift through the receiver, "She's beautiful. She's…she's everything, Kate."

"I'm so glad," she says quickly to disguise the burning sensation of tears in her throat. "I'll call you in two days."

She hangs up as he says, "Stay safe."

Kate leans her head on the receiver and tries to control her breathing and will down the tears. She jumps when the door to the phone booth opens.

"Son of a- What did he say?" Seth says angrily.

"Nothing," Kate says, her voice unsteady. "He just really loves his daughter."

Seth looks confused and then he gets it. "Yeah. Christ. Look, just. Come here."

Kate steps out of the phone booth and slips her arms around his middle. His arms curl around her shoulders and she spares a moment to wonder why this feels so good and effortless and, even more worryingly, like something she could get used to?

But she dismisses the thought in favor of just closing her eyes and leaning her head on his chest. His body is solid and warm and it's so different being held by Seth than being hugged by any of the other men in her life. He's broader than Kyle ever was and her dad had been softer and gentler in his comfort. There's a rough firmness to Seth's build that somehow manages to be reassuring.

She feels dizzy and her skin feels flushed and she's really not sure she's doing the right thing, but she doesn't know what else to do.

"It's not going to get any better, is it?" she asks after a moment.

She can feel him hesitate, but then his lips rest on the top of her head and his voice vibrates through her body when he says, "No, honey. It's not."

* * *

Two days later, they have the name of a town and the advice to look for shrines in the back rooms of panaderías.

* * *

It takes them a day to drive to the town Ranger Gonzalez gave them and after a couple of days of wandering around, Kate gets a job working the very early morning shifts at a panadería.

It doesn't have a shrine in the back, but she figures it's a place to start. It's also the only place that will hire a young woman who doesn't speak Spanish and will pay her in cash.

She kind of likes it. They have her cleaning dishes mostly, but she gets to help with the pan dulces and the vanilla conchas. Its steady work and the other girls are nice and laugh while they help her with her Spanish and she with their English. She brings home slightly crooked loaves of bread that are too brown to sell and misshapen pastries.

Seth gets work as a mechanic with a 24-hour towing service. He hates it, but it pays better than Kate's job so they can afford a motel room with a kitchenette.

Seth gets himself on the night shifts so he can drive the tow truck around at night. Kate joins him most of the time. Her shift at the panadería is four am to eleven am so she's taken to sleeping during the day, then getting up around six in the evening to eat something and head out with Seth.

Most nights they just drive in circles; other nights, he parks the truck near bars that bear a passing resemblance to the Titty Twister.

They do this for two weeks before Seth decides that he's going to go crazy sitting in a car and doing nothing, so Kate's going to learn how to shoot goddamn it.

Before the bars open, he takes her to a spot a few miles out of town and starts teaching her. Some nights he teaches how to throw a punch that won't break her hand and self-defense.

("Don't be shy," he says, "fight dirty and go for the soft spots." He smirks at her. "I know you know how to do that."

She remembers kneeing Sex Machine in the groin and smiles.)

The other nights, he's right up behind her, hands sure and steady as he positions her body for shooting. His hands are warm and big on her hips as he lines her up.

When he gives directions, his voice pitched low, his mouth next to her ear, she shivers and blames it on the night breeze.

He blames the hitch in his voice when she steps back into him after a sharp recoil on a dry throat.

They fall into a routine and it's…natural. It's almost comfortable.

But sometimes when she gets home from work and he's lying on the bed watching old westerns wearing nothing but boxers because it's 'too fucking hot for propriety today, Katie, sorry,' and she retaliates by taking a shower and then wears nothing but a tanktop and a pair of his boxers that she stole a few weeks back and he looks at her with amusement and appreciation and something else…

Kate's fairly sure she's out of her depth.

* * *

"It's getting dark," Kate says one night as he sets up some bottles along a fence a mile or so out from town. "I'm not going to be able to see."

"It's a challenge," he counters. "But, don't worry." He holds up a thin plastic bag. "I got something that will help."

She takes the bag and laughs. "Glow-in-the-dark stars? Really?"

"You can do it," he says taking the bag back and walks out to the bottles. She watches him put a star on each bottle and she grins.

"Seth Gecko, I think you're a creampuff," she calls out to him.

"That's slander, Fuller," he calls back. "I've punched guys for less."

"My comment stands," she says smiling.

He smiles back at her over his shoulder and something catches in her chest and oh.

Good Lord, this is inconvenient. And ill-advised.

She wipes her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans.

* * *

One chilly night around two in the morning as they sit watching the door of another bar, Seth says, "This isn't working."

"We'll find them," Kate says firmly, running her fingers through her hair that's getting long. Too long. She thinks about cutting it and that thought leads to her mom and going with her to the beauty salon and laughing while they got pedicures for Kate's birthday.

She stops touching her hair.

"I don't think we're going to find him this way," he says shaking his head. "Narciso is top-rung. He's not going to slum it all that often."

"What do you suggest then?" she asks,

"I think we need to look somewhere a little higher class," is all he says.

* * *

The next night they ditch the tow truck at the motel and take the convertible towards a nicer part of town.

They park just down the street from a nightclub and they watch people in nice suits and short dresses come and go.

Kate wrinkles her nose. "How can they walk in those heels?"

"You don't know?" he asks glancing at her. "I figured it was some kind of girlie magic that you all knew and weren't sharing. Like why do you all go to the bathroom together?"

"Why do you think? To talk about guys," Kate says smirking.

"I knew it," he mutters.

"I've never worn heels that high," Kate says thoughtfully. "Maybe it just comes naturally?"

"Vanessa had a pair like those," he says squinting and looking at a pair of black heels with an ankle strap.

"Who's Vanessa?" she asks.

"My wife," he says.

Kate looks at him with wide eyes. "Your _wife_? You're married?"

"Well, ex-wife," he says. "I think."

"You think?" she asks, her voice going slightly squeaky. "You don't know?"

"Pretty sure the marriage was over the second she smashed my windshield in with a crowbar," he says. "Besides we got married in Vegas and I didn't sign anything, so I doubt the whole thing was actually legal."

"Okay," she says, frowning.

"What?" he asks, turning in his seat to look at her. "Don't approve of anything less than a white wedding in a church? Did you hold out for a promise ring before you let old what's-his-face French you?"

She glares out the front window, irritated beyond all belief, because he's right. Again. Kyle did give her a promise ring. It was white gold with an opal in the center and it's probably still in her bag back in the RV.

"There are times when I really, really don't like you," she says quietly.

"Well, then you and my _ex_-wife have got something in common," he says.

They sit in disgruntled silence for a few minutes before Kate says primly, "And _I_ Frenched _him_, thank you very much."

He actually snorts with laughter and Kate just grins.

* * *

Occasionally, Seth does actually have to answer a call and go pick up an abandoned car or tow someone in from the side of the road.

One night, when Kate's with him, he gets a call to head out on the highway and when they arrive, it's an old Buick with a smoke pouring out from under the hood and there are two obviously drunk guys that look like tourists laughing and shoving each other next to it. Seth pulls up and parks in front of the Buick.

"Stay in the car," Seth says, getting his gun and shoving it into the back of his jeans, putting a coat on to cover it up. "Lock the door behind me. Hopefully, these two assholes are too drunk to do anything stupid."

"Seth-" she starts to say.

"Stay. In. The car. And lock. The door," he says firmly looking her in the eyes.

She sighs and nods. He gives her one last look and then gets out.

She locks the doors and watches him out the back window.

He goes up to the guys and they smile and nod and show him the engine. He says something to them and they all laugh.

It seems to be a pretty standard tow, Seth shoots her a couple of looks while he pulls the chain off the truck to the Buick, but then there's a knock on Kate's window. She jumps and a guy wearing a red baseball cap is standing beside her door, grinning in at her.

"Well, howdy," the guy says, his American accent strong and his speech slurred. "Didn't know AA sends out complimentary girls, too."

Kate cringes back from the door, but doesn't say anything.

"Hey!" she hears Seth say. "Get the fuck away from there."

Baseball Cap just keeps grinning and knocking on the window.

She glances back and sees Seth head towards the truck. That's when the other two guys rush him. Kate shouts when one of the guys manages to punch Seth in the lower back. Seth grunts but manages to swing around and nail one of them in the nose. Blood sprays out.

Kate looks back at Baseball Cap and he's no longer grinning, he's sneering and punching at the window. The window cracks.

"Fuck you!" she shouts as she quickly grabs the gun she'd been practicing with from between the seats. She scoots into the driver's seat, quickly unlocks the door and gets out.

"Get back in the car!" Seth yells before getting punched in the stomach. He doubles over and Kate grips her gun and moves around the car to aim it at Baseball Cap.

"Get out of here," she says through gritted teeth.

Baseball Cap just grins at her.

Kate fires the gun.

Everyone stops.

Seth takes advantage of the pause and one-two punches one of the guys in the face. The guy goes to his knees with a groan.

Baseball Cap stares at the dark mark on the asphalt where the bullet hit just inches from his foot.

"I'm still learning," Kate says casually. "My aim's not that great. Want to see what I might hit next?"

Baseball Cap sneers and goes to take a step towards her when a gun is cocked right below his ear.

"My aim, on the other hand," Seth says, holding his gun to Baseball Cap's head, "is impeccable."

Baseball Cap freezes.

"Now, I want you boys to start running," Seth says glancing over shoulder at the other two guys who are bloody and groaning on the ground. "I want you to start running and I don't want you to stop until the sun comes up."

"You can't-" one of the guys starts to say.

"I can't 'what'? Do this? I think you'll find that I fucking can," Seth says. "Now," he presses the gun hard against Baseball Cap's head, "_run_."

They run.

Kate and Seth train their guns on the guys until they can no longer see them in the dark. They lower their guns and Seth closes his eyes.

"Get in the truck," he says wearily.

"Seth-"

"Get in the goddamn truck!" he shouts.

Kate gets in the goddamn truck.

After Seth rolls the chain back onto the truck and makes as much noise as possible, including slamming the car door, they head back to the motel.

Kate's fairly sure he's more pissed off at getting jumped by some drunk tourists than anything else. If she's honest, she's kind of proud of herself for not flinching when she aimed the gun.

They arrive at the motel and Seth still hasn't said a word and Kate's getting a little irritated.

"You do realize," she says, when they get inside their room, "that I did everything you told me to do? Down to the letter. I kept my arms steady, I didn't let the recoil take me back, I squeezed instead of pulling, I-"

"You didn't stay in the fucking truck," he says, whirling around to face her. "I said stay in the truck and you got out."

"The guy was going to break the window," Kate says. "I was moving the fight to better ground. Like you told me."

"I was handling it!" he says.

"You had two guys on you," she retorts.

"And I had them on the ropes," he shouts. "Why didn't you stay in the truck?"

"Because I could help! Why are you even bothering to teach me this stuff if you're only ever going to tell me to stay in the stupid truck?" she shouts back.

"Because I am not going to lose you to a bunch of drunk frat boys on the side of the road," he yells. "That is not how I'm going to lose you, Kate! It's not."

Kate stops and looks at him. Really looks at him. While his hands had been steady holding his gun to Baseball Cap's head, they're shaking now. His eyes are wide and his jaw is clenched.

The fight leaves her.

She moves towards him and he flinches, but she gets in close and tilts her head back to keep eye contact with him.

"You're right," she says, putting her hand on his chest. "It's not how you're going to lose me. Because you're teaching me how to survive. _You_ are. _You_ aren't going to be taken down by some drunk frat boys by the side of the road, so _I'm_ not going to either."

He closes his eyes and huffs out a dry laugh. "Jesus Christ, Kate. Just…tell me you were aiming at the ground?"

She pauses and then says, "I was aiming at the ground."

"Fuck," he says, his hands going to her hips and pulling her to him. Her arms curl around his neck and she lays her head on his chest, while he drops his face to the crook of her neck. His breath is warm on her skin and she wills down the shivers that threaten to trip up her spine.

"We're working on your aim tomorrow," he says against her skin.

"Okay," she says, closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against his shirt.

Eventually, they curl up in bed and Seth finds _Once Upon a Time in the West_ on tv and he practically bounces with joy.

"Cinema classic, right here. Nothing like a good spaghetti western," he says, curving his arm around Kate's shoulders.

Kate manages to stay awake for most of it and actually likes it.

She falls asleep with her head on his chest.

He wakes her up in time to see the showdown between Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda.

* * *

It takes another month of sitting outside bars and clubs and asking discreet and not-so-discreet questions before she finally sees Scott.

She sees him on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, of course, because clearly, the universe or God or what-the-heck-ever, is really fond of milestones.

They're in the tow-truck this time, eating some leftover polvorónes shaped like hearts and stars and she's debating on telling Seth that it's her birthday tomorrow, when a large black SUV pulls up in front of the club.

Seth stills and says, "Nice tinted windows they got there."

The bite of polvoróne turns to ash in her mouth because she knows that any second now, her brother is going to step out of that car. She can feel it.

He does.

He's wearing all black and Kate drinks in the sight of him. Scott stands to the side and there's a smirk on his face that she remembers from whenever he won an argument or a match. She vaguely recognizes Carlos and Narciso when they get out and walk inside, but really she's just staring at her brother.

She watches him look around him, straighten his collar, and then go inside.

When he's gone from her sight, she manages to swallow her food.

She looks at Seth helplessly. He looks back at her. She thinks she spots some pity in his eyes and she ignores it.

"What do I do?" she asks.

"Well, you don't waltz in there and demand to see him, that's for damn sure," he says, starting up the truck and heading down the road, past the club entrance.

"I don't?" she asks, watching the entrance through her window.

"No, you don't," he says. "That's a surefire way to get yourself killed, princess."

"Okay," she says. "So, what? I find him alone somehow?"

"Well, you want to do this on neutral territory," he says. "So yeah, alone would be good."

"You're talking like he's some kind of enemy," she says through gritted teeth.

"Because he is, Kate," he says, sounding exasperated.

"He's my brother!" she retorts.

"That's not _all_ he is, though, is it?" Seth fires back. "You want to do this the safe way or the way that'll get you on night shifts permanently?"

Kate slumps in her seat. "The safe way."

"Right," he says. "Good girl. You're going to write him a note, with information that only he'd know to make sure it's you and we send it to the club. You tell him where you want to meet him and then we wait to see what happens next."

"Okay," Kate says nodding. "Okay. That's actually a decent plan."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Seth says shooting her a look. "Not like I've been doing this my whole life or anything."

"Yeah and why'd you end up in jail again?" Kate asks arching an eyebrow at him.

"Watch it, princess," he says, but he's starting to grin and she wonders if he's feeling the same kind of bubbling of her blood that's started now that she's seen Scott. She feels like she's almost there. Like she's on the edge of something and it's making her antsy.

"Thank you," she says. "For sticking with me."

"Wasn't like I had anything else planned," he says. "Hand me a cookie, will you?"

She hands him one of the heart-shaped polvorónes and says, "There's something else that we need to do before I meet Scott. Something I've been thinking about."

"What's that?" he asks with his mouth full.

Kate takes a deep breath and says, "We need to have sex."

It takes Seth a full five minutes to recover from choking on the polvoróne.


	3. Chapter 3

After Seth finishes choking, he drives them back to the motel because Kate has to get to work in an hour.

And, as per usual whenever Kate does something unexpected, he's not speaking to her.

"I have my reasons, you know," she says once they're inside their room. "But if you're going to be immature about the whole thing-"

"Immature?" he says looking at her and cocking his head to the side.

She knew that would get him talking.

"You say that you think we should have sex and because I have a problem with that, I'm being immature?" he asks, eyes wide and arms held out at his sides.

"Well, the mature thing would be to talk about it, but you're over there sulking, so yes, I think you're being immature," Kate says.

"There's nothing to talk about," Seth says taking off his jacket and throwing it on the bed. "We're not having sex."

"Why not?" she asks, her voice rising.

"Because we're not!" he shouts. "I'm not gonna be that guy, all right?"

"Fine, whatever," she says shaking her head. "I'll figure something else out."

He slowly turns his head to look at her with narrowed eyes and she goes still. Oh, hell. She might have pushed a button that she didn't really mean to. Crap.

"You'll figure something else out?" he repeats softly. "Like what, Kate? Go into a bar and let some random guy fuck you?"

She flinches and really wishes she'd thought this through a bit better.

"Oh, you don't like that, hunh?" he says walking towards her. "Because that's what it'd be, Kate. A fuck. Some asshole with his hands all over you, not giving a fuck if you feel good and you don't want that."

"I also don't want to get strapped to another altar and have some asshole with a knife talking dirty to me," she yells, her hands clenched into fists. "That's twice that's happened and that's two times too goddamn many."

He grits his teeth and looks away from her. "So that's what this is about," he mutters.

"Yeah, that's what this is about. But, fine," she says throwing her hands in the air. "I won't bring it up again, all right? I'm sorry. You don't want me like that and I get it-"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asks. "You think I don't-"

He stops talking and stares at her, then the next thing she knows, he's striding towards her and she's walking backwards and her back hits the door and he's standing in front of her, his body pressed against her.

"Do you feel that?" he asks quietly.

Kate goes to shake her head, but then she does feel it. She feels _him_. He's hard and he's pressed tight up against her stomach. Her mouth goes dry.

"Yeah, you feel that," he says putting his hands flat on the door behind her, framing her face and boxing her in. "It is not a matter of not wanting you. I want you. I wake up like that every morning. You smile and I'm hard. I watch you practice shooting and I'm fucking aching. You smell like goddamn sugar and almonds and I want to know if that's what you _taste_ like. It is not a _lack_ of want that is stopping me from fucking you into the mattress, Kate. I want too fucking much."

He takes a breath and lets it out slowly and Kate gives up on calming her heartbeat. She can't breathe and she both wants him to stop talking and to keep going. He leans forward and presses his forehead to hers.

"I also want you to make it to twenty-one with as much of your innocence intact as you can," he says, the words coming out in a rush, like he can't believe he's saying them. "And _that_ is my priority."

"Seth," she manages to whisper. "You can't save me from everything. And I don't want to be-"

"Honey," he interrupts. "You weren't tied to those altars because you're a virgin. You were tied to those altars because you're a fucking beacon of light and hope. Your virginity is a technicality."

Kate pauses, then she frowns. "I don't feel like a beacon of light and hope."

"Yeah, well, the good ones usually don't," he says chuckling. "You don't want this, Kate. Not like this."

"I'm not so sure about that," she says tentatively touching his jaw with the tips of her fingers. She feels like she's on the edge of something massive and powerful and it's scaring the crap out of her while also making her heart race and her insides clench.

"Well, I am and I'm older and wiser, so just let me make this call this time," he says through gritted teeth. "What you really want is to feel tough. You want to be able to fight your way out of bad situations and I'm gonna show you how to do that, all right?" He sighs again and tilts his head to the side, his forehead sliding on her skin. "And if you still want this in a few years, let me know and I'll do my best to make you come so hard you scream."

When he puts it that way…maybe she does want this?

Her hand clenches and she looks down to see her fingers clutching the front of his shirt and she doesn't remember when she grabbed him. Her other hand is still touching his face and her eyes glance at his mouth. His eyes dart down to her mouth and she feels her lips part.

"Fuck it," he mutters and then his mouth is on hers.

His lips are firm and demanding and she gasps when he rocks his lower body to hers. He immediately takes the lead and he kisses her fully, his tongue filling her mouth and oh, God, it's entirely possible he was right and she's not ready for this. It's adult and it's too much and yet she wants more and -

He pulls back and looks at her. He looks out of breath and she feels winded herself.

"Four years," he says after swallowing hard. "We'll talk in four years."

"Three," she says breathlessly. "I turned eighteen three hours ago."

"It's your birthday?" he asks frowning.

She nods.

"Happy birthday," he says, the corner of his mouth quirking up a little.

"Thanks," she says laughing a little.

He leans in briefly and then pushes away from her, his forearms flexing in her peripheral vision. "Get to work. Write your letter to Scott. I have to take a really fucking cold shower."

Then he's in the bathroom and seconds later, she can hear the water start.

She raises her hand and traces the edges of her lips, they feel swollen and she smiles.

* * *

Kate goes to work. She wracks her brain trying to come up with a way to phrase this letter to Scott that won't a) piss him off or b) scare him away. When she messes up her fifth concha one of the other bakers, Beatriz, asks her what's wrong.

"Is it the gringo?" she asks referring to Seth who they met one day when he picked Kate up.

"No," Kate says with a sigh. "Mi hermano."

"Is he sick?" Louisa asks, kneading the bread dough.

"Sort of," Kate says. She shrugs. "He's…doing something I don't think is healthy and I'm trying to find a way to talk to him."

"How old is he?" Beatriz asks.

"Sixteen."

They all 'ah' knowingly. "Hard age," Louisa says nodding. "He's ready to be a man, but he's still a little boy."

"Louisa, that's _all_ men," Beatriz says and Kate chuckles. "Just tell him you love him and that you worry and that you'll be there when he gets hurt."

Kate frowns. "That's it?"

"What else can you say?" Beatriz says. "If you tell him you don't approve, he'll do it anyway. At least this way you haven't, what the phrase? Broken a bridge?"

"Burned a bridge," Kate says.

"Ah, burned a bridge," she says nodding. "I like that saying." She looks at Kate from the corner of her eye. "Sure all is well with the gringo?"

Kate blushes, thinking of how he felt pressed up against her and says, "Yes, all is well with the gringo."

"Oooh!" the other ladies say and Kate laughs and shakes her head when they slip in to Spanish and she is totally lost to the exact words they're saying, but she gets the gist of it. Her face burns for the next hour and it's not due to the ovens.

* * *

The letter she writes is short and to the point.

_Dear Scott,_

_I'm sorry I yelled. I want to see you. Remember ohana._

_Call me if you want to meet._

_Love,_

_Kate_

"What the fuck is ohana?" Seth asks when she gives him the letter after writing down the cell phone number the garage gave Seth for emergency tows.

"It's Hawaiian," she says. "Scott will understand what it means."

"No shit," he says as he gets out of the car and takes the letter into the club. It's just after Kate's shift at the bakery and she's normally asleep by now, but today she feels wired, restless. Seth's back in the car within five minutes.

"Well, let's see what shakes loose," he says as he drives the tow truck back to the motel. "You need to sleep."

"Don't think I can," she says. "I think I'll go for a swim."

A couple of hours go by and she's diving into the pool for the tenth time while Seth sits in a deck chair reading a Robert Ludlum book left behind in the motel room when the phone rings.

Kate inhales half the pool in surprise as she flails in the water.

By the time she gets out, Seth's holding the phone and looking at her.

"Was it him?" she asks. "Was it Scott?"

"Yeah," he says flatly. "He'll meet you tonight out on the highway. He'll come alone."

Neither of them believe that.

They go anyway.

* * *

She's been walking the same six feet of desert for half an hour. For some reason, Seth isn't calling her on her nervousness and she almost wishes he would. He's just leaning against the car, a shotgun he got from who knows where in his hands.

Kate stops pacing when she hears footsteps coming towards her out of the dark. She turns towards them and she hears Seth push himself away from the car.

Scott emerges from the dark and stops just inside the circle of light thrown on the ground by the streetlight.

They just stare at each other.

Then Kate manages, "Thanks for coming."

"Whatever," Scott says lifting his chin. He looks at Seth and then back at Kate. "You're with him now?"

"Yeah," Kate says nodding a little.

"Where's dad?" he asks.

"He's gone," Kate says willing her voice not to break and it doesn't. "He didn't want to change. He…asked me to."

Scott's brow furrows and he looks away. "Oh."

They stand in awkward silence again until Kate asks, "Are you okay?"

"Do you care?" he asks looking at her and she sees a flash of yellow in his eyes. She hears Seth adjust his hold on the shotgun.

"Of course, I care," she says. "Why do you think I asked to see you? I've been looking for you!"

"Why?" he asks, eye narrowed. "You pushed me away."

"You bit dad!" she says, her voice rising.

He looks away again. "You don't get it. You _never_ got it."

"Got what?" she asks her voice a harsh whisper.

He looks at her and the yellow of his eyes shines in the darkness. She hears Seth raise the shotgun, but she holds up her hand to stay him.

"What didn't I get, Scott?" she asks.

"That I was never a real member of the family," he says bitterly. "I was just something they could do to prove they were good people." His voice mimics Jacob's drawl. "Hey! Let's adopt a kid! We're so selfless!" He shakes his head. "They were such hypocrites, Kate."

"They were human," she says softly, her voice catching. "And they loved you. I love you! You're my little brother and I love you. I always did. From the start. From the second they brought you home, I loved you."

"I don't believe you! It was all a big lie and guess what? I'm not Stitch anymore! I'm not the weird alien in the house and there's no more of that ohana bullshit!" he says fiercely. "It doesn't matter anymore."

Kate's throat and eyes burn with tears as she watches him yell. They'd loved that movie when they were kids. Every afternoon for a month, they'd ask to watch _Lilo and Stitch_. They'd driven their parents crazy listening to Elvis Presley and trying to surf using a flattened cardboard box in the backyard. And oh, God, this hurts and what's worse, she _gets_ it. He's not that little kid anymore and neither is she.

"What do you want me to do?" Kate whispers.

"Nothing," Scott says, his voice cracking. "Don't you get it? You can't do anything, Kate. It's done. This is who I am. Who I always was."

"That's not true," she says fiercely. "You weren't always this."

He shakes his head and scoffs. "Do you know why I wasn't broken up about going on this trip? Why I was fine with leaving town?"

Kate slowly shakes her head.

"I poisoned the lacrosse team," he says.

Kate blinks. "You what? That was _you_?"

"Yeah," he says grinning. "It was so easy. Just spiked the Gatorade with some laxatives and boom! Instant benching for the game."

"Why?" she whispers harshly. She remembers that day. Some of the other boys ended up in the hospital with dehydration. Her parents had been so happy Scott had been spared. _Praise God_, they'd said.

"Because a day didn't go by where they didn't make fun of me," he says. "They had all the power and I took it from them." He lifts his chin. "Kate. All that matters is being on the winning side and that's what I'm doing. I have power now."

"Working for those...men?" she asks. "That's not power, Scott. That's evil."

"Well, it feels good," he says almost petulantly and dear God in heaven, he's so _young_. "And you can't really talk, Kate. You're hanging out with a criminal. You went for the guy with all the power in the room, too."

She looks down at the ground and breathes in and out.

"How did you think this was going to go?" he asks softly. "There's no cure for this. This is what I am now. You can't just _fix_ me, Kate."

"I know," she whispers. "I'm sorry, Scott. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, me too," he says. He hesitates and then takes a step towards her. She lifts her head to look at him and she hears Seth take a step forward somewhere behind her.

Scott sends a quick glare at Seth and then looks at Kate. "Something's coming. I don't know what, but they're getting ready for something. Something big. Something with Santanico and Richie. And I don't… You should go home, Kate."

"This is home," Kate says helplessly shrugging her shoulders as she looks around the dark desert. "I can't go back to Bethel. I don't _want_ to go back to Bethel. Not now. Not like this."

"You, um, could come with me?" he asks not looking at her. "I mean, I don't want you to, but Carlos said I should make the offer."

Seth makes a stifled noise behind her.

"I don't think I'd adapt very well," Kate says slowly. "I don't… Thanks, though, I guess? For asking?"

Scott nods and sniffs a bit, looking anywhere but at her. "Yeah, whatever. Look, I gotta go." He looks at her. "It's going to get bad before it gets better, you know. You should get out of it." He glances at Seth. "Both of you."

"Yeah, thanks for the heads up," Seth says.

"Totally not doing it for you," Scott says with a glare. "And if I find out you've hurt her in anyway, I'll hunt you down and suck you dry."

"Understood," Seth replies.

Scott looks at Kate and just says, "See you around."

Then he's gone.

Just...gone.

Kate's breath leaves her and a sob escapes.

"No," Seth whispers harshly in her ear as he grabs her upper arm and pulls her towards the car. "Do not fall apart on me, Fuller. Not while they might be watching."

Kate keeps the tears bottled until they're a good two miles away and then folds in on herself and sobs.

Seth just rests a hand on her back.

She finally raises her head and looks at him. "I'm not just with you because you're the strongest person in the room."

"Yeah?" he says arching an eyebrow. "Funny, 'cause that's the reason I'm with you, princess."

Kate actually manages a smile through her tears.

* * *

"We should get out of here," Seth says while they're watching a James Bond film dubbed in Spanish. Kate's curled up around him again and his arm is around her shoulder, his fingers tapping on her upper arm. "I do not trust any of those guys. I know they were watching the whole thing."

Kate nods. "We should go. We should start hunting them."

His fingers stop tapping. "Excuse me?"

"We should hunt them," she repeats. "We should learn how best to kill them."

Seth sits up, pulling Kate up with him. He puts his hands on her shoulders and looks her in the eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Come on, Seth," Kate says. "Did you really want to just tow cars around? Something's coming. I can feel it. And I want to be ready when it does. I don't think they're done with us, yet. I need to know how to kill them. I want to be good at it."

Seth looks her over and frowns. "What do you mean you don't think they're done with us?"

"Come on, Seth," she says exasperated. "Your brother? My brother? We may hate everything they've become and what they're doing but they're still family and sooner or later, we're going to get dragged back into this. And I don't want to get caught in the middle of some war and be totally defenseless."

"Shit," he mutters. "You're right. I know you're right and I fucking hate it."

"I know," she says putting her hands on his knees as she prompts him, "But…"

"But I really fucking hate towing cars," he says. "And I'd much rather kill some monsters than punch a clock. I'm not made for honest work."

"It's okay," she says, squeezing his knees. "It's part of your charm."

He rolls his eyes. "How do you want to do this?"

"Well, I have some ideas," she says slowly.

"Of course you do."

"You're not going to like the first one, though."

"Aw, shit. Again? Damn it, Kate."

* * *

"Yeah?"

"Ranger Gonzalez?"

"…I think by this point you can call me 'Freddie', Kate. What can I do for you?"

* * *

A week later, they've got the address of a town that's had a number of mysterious deaths by exsanguination ("Jesus," Seth says, "say that three times fast."), Seth's traded the convertible for a used Land Rover, he's quit his job with the garage and is waiting outside the panadería as Kate says her good-byes to the ladies.

"Something for the road," Louisa says with a smile as she hands Kate a bag of bread and pastries.

"Vaya con Díos," Beatriz says solemnly touching the cross Kate still wears around her neck. Beatriz's eyes are dark and serious and Kate wonders how much the older woman knows and hasn't said.

Kate just nods and thanks them.

She walks out into the bright sunshine and is blinded for a second. She holds her hand up to shade her eyes and the first thing she sees is Seth, waiting by the car, his eyes fixed on her.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Yep." She holds up the bag. "I even have snacks."

"Groovy," he says. "Hey, I, uh, got you something. It's in the trunk. Sort of a late birthday present."

Kate sets the bag on her seat and follows him to the back of the Land Rover. He opens the trunk and gestures towards a medium-sized black case with silver clasps.

She undoes the clasps and he starts talking, "Since we're really going to go all Van Helsing on these bastards and since bullets aren't the best option for these things, you need something that will get right in there and pierce the heart."

She lifts the lid and her eyes widen at the sight of a crossbow. It's made of a black metal and not terribly big. The arrows wedged beside it look sharp and clean and her hands actually twitch in anticipation of trying it out.

Kate is beyond touched and doesn't really know what to say, so she keeps looking at it.

Seth, naturally, keeps talking.

"You're going to have to develop better strength in your arms, though, 'cause this is a bitch to load. But your aim's improving and so I thought this might be a good idea."

She runs a finger down the length of an arrow while he continues, "If it's not gonna work, then we can figure something else out. It was just a thought and -"

Kate cuts him off by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She buries her face next to his collar and says quietly, "It's perfect. Thank you."

His arms slowly wrap around her waist, his hands splaying across her back and he hugs her back. He presses his mouth to her ear and murmurs, "Just trying to get you to twenty-one, Katie."

They stand there for several minutes, the sun warming Kate's shoulders and the top of her head.

Eventually, she pulls back and smiles up at him.

"I mean it," she says. "Thank you. This is...awesome, actually."

"Well, we'll see how your aim is," he says, turning to look at the crossbow, his hand reaching out and fiddling with the lid of the case.

Kate leans forward to press a kiss to his cheek and he stills. His skin is rough and warm beneath her lips and something familiar that she's doing her best to put a leash on curls up tight in her stomach.

She moves back and he looks at her, a smirk quirking up the corners of his mouth.

"Careful there," he says lowly. "Gonna make me think you like me or something."

"Or something," she says grinning.

He chuckles and cups his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her in to press a kiss of his own to her forehead.

"Let's hit the road," he says against her skin. He pulls back and smirks at her. "We've got monsters to kill."

"Fuckin' A," she says, still grinning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Three months later…**

"Now, see," Seth says from his position on the table looking down at three very angry culebras, "you have some options here."

They hiss and swipe their arms at him.

"Option one!" he shouts, deflecting their claws with his shotgun. "You can tell us where you've hidden the relics and we go in peace."

The culebras snarl and lunge at him.

"Option two!" he says kicking one of them in the face. "You don't tell us where you've hidden the cash and my pretty partner over there shoots open the windows and you all burn to fucking ash."

The culebras look over their shoulders to see Kate standing on the bar, her crossbow aimed at the tinted window above the door. She waves at them.

They leap at Seth, Kate fires, the window shatters, and sunlight streams in.

The culebras burst into ash and Seth gags when it lands on his face. "Jesus Christ!"

Kate lowers her crossbow and looks at him. "They never go for option one."

Seth makes a face at her and tries to shake the ash from his clothes.

**Seven months later…**

It hurts.

"No! You do not get to fucking check out on me, Fuller! Open your eyes, Kate!"

It hurts so much.

"You are not going out like this, so open your eyes and look at me! Please, Kate!"

It hurts more than anything has ever hurt before, but he's pleading with her and so she tries to open her eyes.

The first thing she sees is Seth holding a blood-soaked shirt to her stomach and she remembers a gun going off. Did she actually get shot? How…boring.

"Kate? Katie?!"

Her eyes close again.

**Twelve months later…**

"Happy birthday," he says handing her a drink that actually has a pink umbrella in it.

"Thanks," she says gingerly taking the drink. "What is this?"

"Fruit and alcohol," he says. "You'll love it."

She takes a sip.

He's not wrong.

It's nice.

"Sweet," she says smiling.

"Just like you, princess," he says with a smirk.

She punches his shoulder and he winces.

"Easy, Wonder Woman," he says rubbing his shoulder. "How's it feel to reach nineteen?"

She thinks as she sips at her drink. "Pretty damn good, actually."

He raises his bottle of beer and she taps her glass against it.

She collects three more umbrellas and piles her hair on top of her head so she can put the umbrellas in her hair. Seth laughs at her and she lets herself forget that they're off to a massive nest the next day and that she hasn't had word of Scott in a year.

**Seventeen months later…**

"Fuck you!" she shouts slamming the door and walking away from the motel.

She hears the door open behind her and Seth shouts after her, "Fuck you, too!"

**Seventeen months and one day later…**

"I'm an asshole," he says as they sit on a guardrail overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

"I'm not exactly a prize these days either," she says, pressing her shoulder to his.

He curves an arm around her and presses a kiss to the top of her head. She wraps her arms around his waist and squeezes him gently.

**Twenty-four months later…**

She stares at a too still Seth and holds his hand tightly and for the first time in a long time, she prays.

**Twenty-seven months later…**

With a yell, Kate swings her crossbow and smashes it against the head of a culebra that started out the evening as a bartender. He staggers and she quickly takes aim. He explodes into dust when her arrow strikes his heart.

Seth swings a sword he picked up from somewhere and decapitates one culebra, then another.

When no more are left, they stand back to back and survey the club floor, littered with body parts and broken furniture. A family of four cowers in a corner, the parents covered in dust, standing in front of their children.

"Go," Kate says to them. "Go and don't look back."

The family goes.

Kate watches them and something aches in her chest. She rubs at the cross around her neck as Seth rubs the space between her shoulder blades.

**Thirty months later…**

"Hello, brother," Richie says from where he stands in the doorway of Seth and Kate's motel room. "Guess you never found that blue agave."

**Thirty-five months and twenty-three days later…**

"This is going to suck," Seth says as he, Kate, and Richie stand at the opening of a cave that may or may not lead to the Underworld.

"If that was a pun," Richie says. "It was terrible."

"It was a statement of fact, Richard," Seth says. "This is going to suck. A lot." He turns to Kate. "You can turn back. You don't have to do this, Kate."

She hefts her crossbow in her hands and looks down into the darkness. "Like I trust the two of you to get it right."

"I always did like you, Kate," Richie says smiling.

She actually manages to laugh. "Well, then, what's that you always say, Seth? Let's get ramblin'?"

Seth unsheathes his sword and says, "Not like I planned on living forever."

They head into the darkness.

The End.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you very much everyone who has reviewed or favorited this story! I understand that many of you were disappointed in the last chapter. I hope this one is a return to the form you prefer. This is the end of this story and I do honestly thank you for all of your feedback. As you may have noticed, the rating has been upped for this chapter.

* * *

**Three years later…**

"There's been no trace of any culebra activity," Freddie tells Kate over the phone. "Whatever you did, it worked."

"Well, thank the Lord," Kate says closing the refrigerator door. "I'm never going under a mountain again, just so you know.

Freddie chuckles. "I don't blame you." He goes quiet for a second and then asks, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm…okay," she says looking out the window of the small kitchen in the house they've moved into. "I'm as okay as I think I'm going to be, at least."

"Can't ask for more than that, I guess," he says. "Thank you for the gift, by the way. Billy loves the dress you sent her. She keeps spinning around in it."

Kate smiles. "I'm glad she likes it. How is she?"

"Into everything," he says with a laugh. "Her favorite word right now is 'why'?"

"It's an important word," she says snickering.

"Look, Kate, you do know you can come back here?" he says. "I can make it work."

"I know," she says as she moves over to the oven to turn off the timer that's just gone off. "I'm okay here for awhile, Freddie. But thank you. God, for everything."

"If anything weird pops up, I know who to call," he says. He pauses, then says, "Your parents would be proud of you, Kate. You know that, right?"

Kate smiles and says, "Yeah, I know. Talk soon. Give Billy a hug for me, okay?"

"You got it," he says.

Kate hangs up.

"Hey, princess," Seth says as he walks into the kitchen as though he hadn't been listening from the hallway and as though he didn't know that Kate knew he was there. "What's cookin'?"

"Cookies," Kate says, pulling a tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. "I wanted to see if I remembered how to make them."

"Looks good," Seth says as he goes to take one off the tray. Kate smacks the back of his hand. "Hey!"

"They have to cool," she says smiling.

"You have to cool," he mutters, as he goes to grab a beer from the fridge and she snickers.

So, Kate makes it to twenty-one.

She's not altogether sure _how_, but she makes it.

She also kills a lot of monsters, helps two brothers get through the underworld, gets shot, cracks her ribs a few times, gets knocked unconscious on three separate occasions and, despite what Seth promised her all those years ago, acquires several bumps and scrapes along the way.

She also gets to watch as gods are defeated.

A week after the Gecko brothers save the world and while the three of them are recovering in a small house near the ruins of Tulum, Kate's own brother knocks on the door. Scott somehow manages to look sheepish, rebellious, and scared all at the same time.

Kate pulls him inside instantly.

Kate honestly has no idea how the whole culebra venom thing works, but Richie and Scott are back to human. Mostly. They aren't crazy about the sun and they can see extremely well in the dark, but at least they don't get the urge to sink their teeth into anyone.

Seth says that he counts that as a win in his book.

Kate does too.

It's not easy for them, though. Adapting to being human again. Richie takes to sitting on the back porch and staring out at the ocean for hours at a time.

Scott can't seem to stop sleeping under his bed.

Neither of them seem to want to eat food.

It takes Seth yelling at both of them to snap out of it, Kate yelling at him to have a bit more compassion, Scott yelling at Kate that he doesn't need her to look after him and Richie punching a hole in the wall before the tension sort of breaks.

Kate brings home a pile of comic books one day and shoves them at Scott, thinking that maybe something familiar from _before_ would help.

And it does.

It _really_ does.

Because the next day, he goes to the store and comes back with a blank notebook and several colored pens and starts drawing.

"They don't get anything right," he says when Kate looks in on him. "I mean, look at those fangs! Not even close to accurate."

What's surprising is how Richie joins in.

"You draw, I'll plot," he says grabbing a notebook. "They always make the mistake of dumbing the stories down. People appreciate complexity."

It seems too simple and far too easy but Kate and Seth just look at each other, shrug, and hope for the best.

Three months later, they have their own website and actual followers.

"But, not like 'Hey, I'm going to go drink blood for you' followers, right?" Seth asks brow furrowed.

Scott and Richie roll their eyes and start talking about podcasts.

Kate just pats Seth on the shoulder.

They still aren't eating well and Kate's decided to give up on getting them to eat a balanced diet and just getting them to eat. Hence, the cookies.

She thinks it will work because they demolished the pan of brownies she made the other day.

"Where're the boy wonders?" Seth asks drinking from his beer and watching Kate as she moves around the kitchen.

"Off at some comic book store in Mexico City," she says. "Said they'd be back later tonight."

"Wondered why it was so quiet," he says. "Can I have one now?"

She rolls her eyes and nods. "Take it. Burn your mouth. See if I care."

"You do care," he says grinning and kissing her cheek, before taking a cookie. He eats it in two bites and moans a little. "Damn good, Katie."

Kate takes one for herself and takes a small bite. Oh, yeah. That is good. It's still hot from the oven and the chocolate melts in her mouth and her hand. She bounces a little on her feet and hums.

"Yep," she says. "Still can make 'em. These won at the church bake sale two years in a row."

"I believe you," he says taking another. "Can you do cakes?"

"Been awhile, but probably. Why?" she asks.

"You're going to need one for your birthday coming up," he says with a shrug.

She wrinkles her nose. "I already had my birthday."

"What?" he says surprised. "When?"

"About six months ago," she says laughing.

"I missed it?" he asks, frowning.

"We were a little busy at the time," she says. "In fact, I think we were under a mountain by that point."

"Shit," he says. "You're right. I forgot. Katie, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she says still chuckling. "Important thing is that I made it past it."

He stills. "Yeah. It is. You made it to twenty-one."

"How about that, huh?" she says grinning at him. "Thank you."

"Do not thank me," he says shaking his head. "You did it on your own."

"You helped," she says thinking of all the times he pulled her ass out of the fire and she returned the favor.

"Yeah, well." He looks away and she's suddenly filled with a kind of hyper-awareness that usually only comes over her when she's hunting. She looks at Seth and sees him. Really sees him. Sees the gray in his temples, the scars on his hands, the lines next to his eyes that the last few years have etched onto his face. A face that has become so familiar to her and she realizes that she is standing two feet away from the one person who knows her as she is now and God, she _wants_.

It's not an unfamiliar feeling but it's one she's kept strict control of over the years and it makes her dizzy to think that she could just. let. go.

There's also a smudge of chocolate on his right index finger that she can't stop staring at.

"Do you still…" She doesn't know how to say it.

He looks at her and oh, God, his eyes. They're staring right through her and her skin starts to tingle.

"Do I still what, Kate?" he asks softly, setting his beer down on the counter.

"Do you still want me?" she asks hesitantly.

"Like I could stop," he says matter-of-factly. "Question is - do you want me? Seen all the worst bits of me by now, princess. Sure you want to keep going?"

She crosses those two feet and takes his hand. She lifts it up to her mouth and kisses a spot between his knuckles. He sucks in a breath and she lifts her eyes to his.

Then she licks the chocolate off his index finger.

Next thing she knows, she pressed hard up against the fridge, Seth's mouth moving over hers.

"Don't know how long I'm gonna last, honey," he says in between sucking kisses to her neck while his hands skim up her sides. "Three fucking years, Kate."

"It's okay," she says breathlessly. "Not like I've got a basis for comparison."

He stops sucking on her neck and lifts his head. "What?"

"What?" she asks. "I've never done this before, remember? It could be terrible and I wouldn't know."

His eyes narrow and his mouth fiercely covers hers once more, then he pulls back slightly. "This is going to be fucking fantastic. I am going to make you forget your name and you are going to get religion several times over."

Then he hoists her up in a fireman's carry towards his bedroom down the hall. She shrieks and smacks his butt. "Seth! Don't hurt your back!"

"I might be a dirty old man, Katie," he says giving her butt its own smack. "But I'm not that old."

"Notice you don't excuse the dirtiness," she says giggling before he drops her on the bed.

"Naw, that's gonna come in handy right about now," he says grinning.

He looks down at her and just runs his eyes over her, his grin fading. She feels her face flush and his eyes linger on the pale strip of her stomach that's showing where her shirt has ridden up. Slowly, carefully kneels on the bed and leans over her. His fingers trace along the edge of her t-shirt and her breathing speeds up. He looks up at her under hooded eyes and leans over her completely, his mouth gently meeting hers.

This kiss is nothing like the one in the kitchen, this is slow and yes, deliciously dirty. His tongue strokes alongside hers steadily and languidly and before she knows it, she's writhing underneath him, her hands clutching at his hair and trying to get closer to him.

But he holds himself just above her body and she actually whines into his mouth.

"You want something, Katie?" he asks lifting his mouth to hover just above hers.

"You," she gasps. "And you know it!"

He smirks and places his hand on her hip and lowers his own hips to hers, resting in the cradle of her pelvis. The denim of his jeans is rough against the soft skin of her inner thighs and she immediately raises her knees to hold him in place. He grinds down heavily and slowly and Kate gasps. A bolt of pure arousal pierces her body and she moans into his mouth.

"Fuck, princess," he says into her mouth. "I'm trying to make this good for you."

"It's incredible," she says slipping her hands under his shirt and pulling it up and off of him. Her hands immediately roam over his chest, over scars and muscle and she rises up to kiss his collarbone. "I want you, Seth. _Now_."

"Jesus," he hisses when she bites down gently on his pectoral. His hand slides into the hair at the back of her head and he sharply pulls her head back to cover her mouth with his.

Any pretense at finesse is ditched by both of them and they scramble to get Kate's shirt and shorts off along with Seth's jeans. Soon enough, Kate's naked and sitting in Seth's lap, grinding down on his hand, while he suckles and licks at her breast.

"Sugar and almonds," he murmurs against her breast. "Fuckin' knew it."

He slips his hand to between her legs and slides a finger along her slit. Kate stills and he looks up from where he's licking at her nipple.

"Still good?" he asks hoarsely.

"Yeah," she manages. "Don't stop."

He slips a finger inside and crooks it just so and her head falls back and her hips start to rock to the rhythm he's setting.

"Fuckin' gorgeous," he says, sounding practically reverent. "Hand to God, Kate, you're fuckin' gorgeous."

She can't seem to get her voice to work, so she lifts her head and find his mouth and kisses him hard.

With a quick move, Seth lays her on the bed on her back and cradles her face in his hands while he runs the length of his cock along her folds.

"You ready?" he asks.

"Yes, now," she says nodding.

He takes a second to grab his jeans from the floor to get a condom and Kate arches an eyebrow. "How long have you had that?"

"Since you turned twenty," he says with a grin.

"You're terrible," she says as she grins back and then he's on top of her again, kissing her like she's the sweetest thing he's tasted in his life. She feels the backs of his knuckles brush against her as he lines himself up and then…

She arches her back and gasps sharply as he bites out a "Fuck!"

It's not pain that she feels, precisely, more the feeling of being stretched and she furrows her brow as she adjusts her hips.

"Fuck, Kate," he says on a groan. "Still good?"

"Yeah," she says pulling his head to hers and kissing him. "I'm good, let's go."

"Hold on," he says and then he starts to move.

Every stroke feels like heaven and Kate's running her hands along the sides of his face, his shoulders and down his back to his ass. She digs her nails into the small of his back and he thrusts harder and she actually shouts, "Yes! There!"

"Fuck," he says again through gritted teeth as she figures out how to rolls her hips in time to his thrusts.

Something urgent is building inside of her and kisses him desperately and she can't control her body anymore, it's been taken over by this need for release and he reaches down and cants her hips just so and…

Reality leaves her - all she knows is this feeling that spreads inwards out and she thinks she shouts something but all she knows is the sensation of explosions and shudders that take over her body.

She comes back to the world in time to see Seth shout and he pumps hard into her, his hips shuddering against hers.

His head falls to her shoulder and with shaky hands she runs her fingers through his hair.

She presses a kiss to his neck along his thrumming jugular. He rolls off of her and just looks at her.

"You good?" he asks hoarsely.

"Yeah, I'm good," she says smiling.

He leans over and kisses her over and over again.

Later that afternoon, they lay in bed, eating cookies that Seth has lined up on her stomach.

"I love you, you know," he says eventually, looking down at her stomach. "I was gonna say it earlier when I…but you wouldn't have believed me. Never believe anything a man says when he's got his dick inside you."

"Thanks for the tip," Kate says amused, running her hand through his hair.

He pulls her close, rolling him underneath him again, dislodging the remaining two cookies. "Not that you're going to have anyone else's dick inside of you. This is it, Kate. You're it. I mean it, for the rest of my life. There's no one else. Hasn't been for years now."

Kate runs her foot along the back of his leg and hooks it, then smoothly flips them over so that she's on top.

"You're mine, too," she says before kissing him.

The cookies are ground to crumbs beneath them but that just means they have to take a shower.

True to his word, Kate gets religion twice while he goes down on her - once on the bathroom sink and once in the shower itself.

hr

By the time night falls, they're back in the kitchen. Kate's in her tanktop and her favorite pair of Seth's boxers and sitting on the kitchen table watching Seth make them grilled cheese sandwiches. She feels wonderfully sore in all sorts of new places and every time she catches sight of the lovebite she sucked onto his collarbone, she bounces a little.

He glances over at her and smirks. "Have I created a monster?"

She nods. "Yep. I'm hot for your bod, Gecko."

He laughs and hands her a sandwich, joining her on the table. She's hungrier than she thought and devours the sandwich quickly.

"So, what are we going to do now?" she asks.

"I kinda want you on top next time," Seth says shrugging.

She swats his arm. "I meant us. Life. What are we going to do now that there are no more monsters to kill?"

"Beats the hell outta me," he says with a sigh. "Could get married."

She looks at him. "What?"

"We could get married," he says before finishing off his sandwich.

"That's not a career plan, Seth," she says kissing his shoulder. "But, if it's a proposal, then yeah, okay."

"Yeah?" he says starting to grin.

"Why the hell not?" she says grinning back.

He gets to his feet and kisses her, his lips slipping against hers, greasy from butter and she giggles into his mouth.

"We still need to figure out our lives," she says on a gasp as his mouth slides down her throat.

"Yeah, yeah," he says pulling her to the edge of the table and rocking against her. "Whatever you want, Katie."

It's just as she slips her hands underneath the waistband of his boxers and is palming his ass while he kisses her neck that their brothers come home.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Seth," Richie says as he comes into the kitchen. "We eat on that table, you know."

"Oh, god!" Scott yells as he comes in and then turns away, covering his eyes with his hands. "My eyes! My eyes! It burns!"

Kate sighs and takes her hands out of Seth's boxers.

"We need our own place," Seth says shaking his head before dropping it on her shoulder.

"Or you could keep your fucking to the bedroom like respectable people," Richie offers looking amused.

"My ears!" Scott yells from the hallway. "What is wrong with you? I can't take it anymore."

"You two are morons," Kate says. "I made cookies, by the way."

"Ooh! Are those your bake sale cookies?" Scott asks coming into the kitchen. "Sweet."

They each grab a handful.

"Nice cookies, Katie-cakes," Richie says arching an eyebrow. "Nice hickey, Seth."

"Bite me, little brother," Seth says.

"Never again," Richie says making a face. "You taste like shit, remember?"

"You know this reminds me of the time I caught you flirting with that guy with the leather jacket at church that time," Scott says around mouthful of cookie and grinning. "You were like, two seconds away from jumping his bones."

"Shut up, Scott," Kate says.

"Leather jacket, huh?" Seth says looking at Kate. She rolls her eyes. "You have a thing for the bad boys?"

"I think I've proven that several times over today," she says leaning close and sliding her hand up his arm.

"Charming," Richie says as Scott fakes throwing up.

"What do you say we leave these two losers to their cookies and you do that thing you do with your tongue?" Seth asks her, his hands sliding to her butt.

"Seriously?" Richie asks while Scott bangs his head against the wall and wails, "This is gross!"

"Get used to it," Kate says grabbing Seth's hand and pulling him from the room.

"Later, bros!" Seth says cheerfully.

Inside Seth's room, they fall onto the bed and Kate straddles him.

"Were you serious?" she asks as he pulls her tanktop off.

"About what?" he asks distractedly cupping her breasts. She pinches his side. "Ow! Hey! Yeah, I was serious. Marry me, Kate. Let's find new monsters to kill and provide endless amusement for our two dumb brothers. What do you say?"

She looks down at him and tilts her head to the side. He grins up at her and she has to laugh.

"Not like I had any other plans," she says before leaning down and kissing him.


End file.
